What a defensible private valuation looks like.

National averages and industry rules of thumb travel well in conversation. They travel poorly in diligence. A North Florida HVAC company with one key account, a short lease, and an owner who still runs every job is not the same asset as a peer with a manager and diversified revenue — even if both print a similar top line.

A defensible private valuation starts with the books as they are, then rebuilds earnings the way a buyer and a lender will: cash the company can produce under a replacement operator, not under you working sixty hours and expensing the boat. That recast is the spine. Without it, the multiple is decoration.

We write opinions for Gainesville and North Florida owners who need a quiet number — not a public listing. See our valuation practice for how an engagement is framed.

Three years of tax returns and interim financials, adjusted for owner compensation above a fair manager wage, one-time legal or repair, and personal expenses that will not follow the buyer. Inventory and working capital that actually turn. Equipment that is useful, not sentimental. Customer concentration stated plainly.

Comparable closed sales in Florida matter more than a national database average. Privately held comps are imperfect; treating them as gospel is a different error. We weight quality of earnings, transfer risk, and whether real estate rides with the company or leases separately — that choice changes both price and tax.

Income approaches, market approaches, and asset considerations each have a place. The point is not to stack methods until one flatters. The point is a range a serious buyer can take to a credit committee without apology.

A private opinion of value is counsel for planning: partner buyouts, estate conversations, bank conversations, readiness for a future sale. It is not a formal appraisal for litigation unless we say so in the engagement letter. It is not a promise of what the market will pay next spring.

We do not invent comps, pad add-backs, or quote deal counts to sound busy. Empty public listings on this site are honest. The same standard applies to a valuation file: if the company is not ready, the opinion says so, and the work becomes readiness.

Because the principals are CPAs, we notice when structure will matter later — asset versus equity, how goodwill and equipment might allocate — without issuing a tax opinion letter. That letter stays with the CPA of record. Our job is a brokerage-grade number that does not collapse when the other side’s accountant arrives.

Two years before you want to be in market is often better than two weeks. So is a partner disagreement that needs a number both sides can live with, or a lender who wants more than a handshake. If you already have a buyer at the table, say so — we can work inside a small circle.

Confidentiality still applies. Valuation conversations do not become news on the shop floor. Read how we keep files quiet on our confidentiality page, or write contact with a name and one line.

Every closely held company carries transfer risk. Key-person dependence, customer concentration, a lease that expires inside a year, thin middle management, deferred maintenance on equipment, or a backlog that depends on the owner’s relationships: those facts belong in the narrative, not in a footnote the buyer discovers alone.

A defensible opinion names them and shows how they were weighted. Ignoring them produces a flattering number that dies in diligence. Over-punishing them produces a number no seller will use for planning. The craft is in the middle: a range that reflects Florida private-market reality for companies that look like yours, not like a franchised roll-up in another state.

We also separate enterprise value conversations from real-estate value when the building is owned. Mixing them without disclosure is how kitchen-table expectations and bank term sheets diverge. If the land and building are half the story, say so in plain language and value the operating company on its own feet.

You receive a written opinion that states the purpose, the standard of value we used, the financials relied upon, the adjustments made, the approaches considered, and a concluded range with reasoning. It is meant to be readable by an owner, a partner, and a banker — not only by another valuator.

How you use it is your choice: internal planning, a conversation with family, a buy-sell discussion, or a baseline before a future sale process. It is not automatically a listing price. Markets move. A company that improves its books and management between the opinion and the market often deserves a different conversation later — which is the point of doing the work early.

If the engagement later becomes a sale mandate, the valuation file is a head start, not a substitute for a live buyer process. Buyers still underwrite. Lenders still underwrite. Our job is that neither is meeting the company for the first time through a fantasy multiple.

If this is the season to talk, a name, a role, and one line is enough. Write hello@foundrybusinessadvisors.com or use the contact form. We answer in confidence.